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sentence statements seen in the previous paragraph by assigning qualities of “qi” 奇 to what is
perceived in the poems as well as how, in simple terms, the poet-narrator perceives the poems'
existents, 37 thus refining and broadening the long established characterization of the “qi” 奇 of Cen
Shen's northwestern landscape. Gao Jianxin 高 建 新 , for instance, emphasizes how the existents of the
poems' settings embody the “robust and uncommon” (qiqiao 奇 峭 ) quality of Cen Shen's frontier
poetry; 38 these include both the towns and garrisons of the northwestern region, or “Hu lands” (hudi 胡
地 ), such as Jiuquan 酒 泉 , Luntai 轮 台 , and Anxi 安 西 , and their beautifully bizarre geographic and
cultural features. Gao also cites several poems which exhibit “unusual” naturally occurring features of
Cen Shen's frontier landscape, such as Hot Lake 热 海 and Fire Mountain 火 山 . Cases in which time
and temperature seem unaligned, 39 as in lines seven to eight of “Late Spring at Hexi and Having
Recollections of Qinzhong” (“Hexi chunmu yi Qinzhong” 河 西 春 暮 忆 秦 中 ), are also selected by Gao
to further qualify the “strange” (qi 奇 ) in the non-human environment described by Cen Shen's poet
narrator:
凉 州 三 月 半 Half way through the third month at Liangzhou, 40
41
犹 未 脱 寒 衣 And still one has yet to take off winter clothes.
(lines 7-8)
Finally, glimpses are offered by Cen Shen's poet-narrator of “strange and unusual; extraordinary” (qiyi
奇 异 ) and “peculiar” (qite 奇 特 ) food, clothes, interior furnishings and music 42 serve to conclude Gao's
37 The actor or item of a setting. In the sentence “Henry smelled a most divine piece of toast in the kitchen”, Henry and
toast, the subject and object of the sentence, are existents of the setting “kitchen”. See Gerald Prince, A Dictionary of
Narratology (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1987), p. 28.
38 Gao Jianxin 高 建 新 , “Hudi yu Cen Shen biansaishi zhi qiqiaomei 胡 地 与 岑 参 边 塞 诗 之 奇 峭 美 ”Neimenggu daxue
xuebao 内 蒙 古 大 学 学 报 ( 哲 学 社 会 科 学 版 ) 2009.1, pp. 3-8.
39 A common technique for describing the frontier in Chinese frontier poetry. See chapter three for examples and a brief
discussion.
40 Wuwei county 武 威 县 , Gansu province.
41 CSJJZ, p. 90. Qinzhong 秦 中 refers to an area of today's central Shaanxi 陕 西 province.
42 See for example “Song of Hu” 胡 歌 , “Seventh Month at Luntai” 首 秋 轮 台 , “Written After Getting Drunk at a Banquet